Maurice Chandler - October 3, 1993
Hearing Rumors About Warsaw Ghetto
Did you stop to think at all--you must have thought about what was going on in Warsaw?
Yes, because uh, you know, at that time, after the uh, uh, letters stopped, I didn't understand why it stopped because I wrote and sent letters and it all happened so fast, you know, there was only a few months in between and the post office didn't run that fast when it did work. So, I mean, we heard the rumors that they're doing this, and they're doing that but nothing substantiated because, see, we're dealing in an area where, you know, communication--there was no CNN, you know, there's no television, there's no radio, there's nothing. So, you relied on smugglers that used to come from Warsaw and they'd bring rumors, you know, the ghetto--they shot so and so, they shot this, that's about all.
Nothing about deportation?
No, nothing, nothing about deportation yet at the time. We knew that they were putting Jews in ghettos. Anyway, I got that paper and off I went--about five o'clock in the morning I set out to go. I don't even know where I went and uh, I don't remember where I went first. I went to another village someplace and found work for a day or for a night. I kept wondering--you see, now that's the part that's becoming very foggy uh, to me. Needless to say, I don't understand where I went from there--what villages. Anyway, let's see. Let's stop. I don't want to waste the...
[interruption in interview]
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